To file a Chapter 128 petition in Wisconsin, you complete a verified petition and an affidavit listing your debts, submit them to the clerk of circuit court in the county where you live along with the filing fee, and let the court appoint a trustee who will set up a repayment plan of up to three years. The process is handled in state circuit court rather than federal bankruptcy court, and you generally don’t need to appear before a judge.
Check Whether You Qualify Before You File
Chapter 128 is open to Wisconsin residents whose principal source of income is wages or salary. You file in the circuit court of the county where you live.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 Section 128-21 – Voluntary Proceedings by Wage Earners for Amortization of Debts Courts have interpreted “wages or salary” broadly enough to cover self-employment income and regular payments such as Social Security, but the point is steady, predictable income large enough to carry the plan.
You also have to show that you can’t meet your current debts as they come due but can make regular payments large enough to pay everything off within three years. There is no statutory cap on total debt, but the three-year ceiling creates a practical limit based on your income. If the required monthly payment would be unaffordable, Chapter 128 won’t work for you.
There’s no restriction on how many times you can file, and a prior bankruptcy doesn’t disqualify you. You don’t need to complete credit counseling or produce tax records.
What Debts You Can Include
The plan covers unsecured debts: credit card balances, medical bills, personal loans, payday loans, past-due utilities, and similar obligations with no collateral attached. You pick which unsecured debts to put into the plan. Anything you leave out is not protected by the court’s order.
Secured debts like car loans and mortgages generally cannot be included, because the collateral gives the lender rights the state court order doesn’t override. A secured creditor could agree to participate, but don’t plan around that.
Government debts need separate attention. Section 128.17 addresses debts owed to the federal government, the state, and local municipalities, and the stay provisions may not stop federal agencies from pursuing tax debts or defaulted federal student loans through their own administrative collection.2Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 – Creditors Actions If a large share of what you owe is federal taxes or student loans, get an attorney’s view before filing.
Gather Your Information and Complete the Forms
Before you touch the forms, pull together a complete list of the creditors you want to include, each with a mailing address and the amount owed. Have your employment details, income figures, and Social Security number ready.
The core forms for a Chapter 128 filing are:
- Form CV 5, Petition to Amortize Debts. Your formal request to the court, with your name, address, employer, and a statement that you can’t meet current debts but can make regular payments over up to three years.
- Form CV 6, Affidavit of Debts. A sworn list of each creditor and the amount owed. This form typically requires notarization.
- Form CV 7, Order Appointing Trustee and Enjoining Creditors. The court order that names your trustee and directs creditors to stop collection activity.
Milwaukee County publishes its own versions of these forms through the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.3Milwaukee County. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Forms for Voluntary Amortization of Debts Other counties may use local forms or those from the Wisconsin Court System. Call the clerk of circuit court in your county before filing to confirm you have the right versions.
Choose Payroll Deduction or Direct Payment
The petition asks whether you’ll pay the trustee through payroll deduction or on your own. With payroll deduction, your employer withholds a set amount each payday and sends it directly to the trustee. The trustee’s fee is capped at 7% for payroll deduction and 10% for direct payments.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 Section 128-21 – Voluntary Proceedings by Wage Earners for Amortization of Debts Payroll deduction costs less and removes the temptation to skip. The tradeoff is that your employer will know about the filing. Direct payment is more private but costs more and puts the responsibility on you.
Estimate Your Monthly Payment
Add up all the debts you plan to include. Multiply by 1.07 if you’re using payroll deduction, or 1.10 for direct payments, to cover the trustee’s fee. Divide by 36 months. For example, $18,000 of unsecured debt on payroll deduction works out to about $535 a month for three years. If that number is more than you can carry, revisit which debts to include or whether Chapter 128 is the right tool.
File With the Clerk of Circuit Court
Once your forms are complete and the Affidavit of Debts is notarized, file everything with the Clerk of Circuit Court in the county where you live. You can usually file in person or by mail. A filing fee set under Wisconsin Statutes section 814.62(2) is due at filing.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 Section 128-21 – Voluntary Proceedings by Wage Earners for Amortization of Debts Call the clerk’s office to confirm the current amount, because fees change and some counties add local surcharges. Milwaukee County, for example, adds a justice information surcharge on top of the base fee.4Wisconsin Court System. Wisconsin Circuit Court Fee, Forfeiture, Fine and Surcharge Tables
After filing, you’ll receive a case number. The court then moves on to appointing a trustee and issuing the order that stops creditor collection.
What Happens After You File
The Stay Against Collection
Filing triggers a stay that stops creditors from using execution, attachment, or garnishment on debts included in your plan. Wage garnishments stop, bank levies are blocked, and creditors can’t file new lawsuits on the covered debts while the case is open.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 Section 128-21 – Voluntary Proceedings by Wage Earners for Amortization of Debts The statute also pauses the statute of limitations on included debts, so creditors don’t lose their right to collect if the plan later fails.
The stay is narrower than a federal bankruptcy stay. It reaches the collection tools listed in the statute, and only for debts you included. Debts you left out are not protected. Child support is unaffected. Federal agencies collecting on tax debts or defaulted student loans may continue their own administrative collection despite a state court stay.
The Trustee and the Creditor Meeting
The court appoints a disinterested trustee to run your plan. The trustee meets with you promptly after filing to confirm a verified list of your creditors and amounts owed, then notifies each listed creditor of the claimed amount and schedules a meeting at the trustee’s office held between 5 and 10 days after the notices go out.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 Section 128-21 – Voluntary Proceedings by Wage Earners for Amortization of Debts At that meeting, you, the trustee, and any creditors who show up go over the proposed plan and resolve disputes over amounts.
After the meeting, the trustee either reports to the court that no workable plan exists, which leads to dismissal, or recommends a specific payment schedule. Creditors can file written objections. The court approves the plan and sets the payment amounts. You generally don’t need to appear in court.
Making Payments
Once the plan is approved, you make weekly or monthly payments to the trustee, who distributes the money proportionally among your creditors after deducting the trustee’s fee and postage.1Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code Chapter 128 Section 128-21 – Voluntary Proceedings by Wage Earners for Amortization of Debts You can pay more than the required amount if you want to finish the plan early. When all scheduled payments are made, the included debts are fully satisfied and the case closes.
What a Missed Payment Can Cost You
Consistency is the whole point. If your situation changes, the court can modify the plan, but repeated missed payments can get the case dismissed. If that happens, the stay dissolves and creditors can immediately resume collection on the full remaining balances. That is the main risk of filing: the protection comes up front, but if you can’t sustain the payments, you lose both the stay and the time.
Do You Need an Attorney
Nothing in the statute requires a lawyer. The forms are relatively straightforward, and organizations like the Milwaukee Justice Center publish filing guides for people handling the process on their own. The petition is still a verified legal document, though, and errors in the creditor list or debt amounts can create problems later. If your debts span different types, you have disputes with creditors over what you owe, or your income comes from sources other than a traditional paycheck, an attorney is worth the cost. Chapter 128 attorney fees tend to be modest compared with the cost of a bankruptcy filing.